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40. Similarly, in paragraphs 30 and 31 of Eker , the Court held that that provision confers no entitlement on a Turkish worker who has changed employer before the end of the first year of employment in the host Member State and applies for an extension of his residence permit in order to continue working for his new employer before even completing one year’s legal employment with that employer.

33 A finding that there is no likelihood of confusion in a part of the European Union may, in accordance with the Court’s settled case-law, be based only on an examination of all the relevant factors in the case concerned. The assessment must include a visual, phonetic or conceptual comparison of the signs at issue, bearing in mind, in particular, their distinctive and dominant components (judgment of 25 June 2015, Loutfi Management Propriété intellectuelle, C‑147/14, EU:C:2015:420, paragraph 23 and the case-law cited).

35. It follows from the wording of that provision that the concept of supply of goods does not refer to the transfer of ownership in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the applicable national law but covers any transfer of tangible property by one party which empowers the other party actually to dispose of it as if he were its owner. That concept is in accordance with the purpose of the Directive, which is designed inter alia to base the common system of VAT on a uniform definition of taxable transactions (Case C‑320/88 Shipping and Forwarding Enterprise Safe [1990] ECR I‑285, paragraphs 7 and 8).

20. Cette disposition poursuit l’objectif de favoriser certaines activités d’intérêt général, à savoir des services ayant un lien étroit avec la pratique du sport ou de l’éducation physique qui sont fournis par des organismes sans but lucratif aux pe rsonnes pratiquant le sport ou l’éducation physique. Ainsi, ladite disposition vise à promouvoir une telle pratique par de larges couches de la population (voir arrêt Město Žamberk, précité, point 23).

44. To exclude automatically application of the framework agreement in a situation such as that in the case before the referring court – as the Spanish Government and the Commission suggest – would, in disregard of the objective attributed to clause 4, effectively reduce the scope of the protection against discrimination for the workers concerned and would give rise to an unduly restrictive interpretation of that clause, contrary to the case-law of the Court (see, to that effect, Del Cerro Alonso , paragraphs 37 and 38, and Case C‑268/06 Impact [2008] ECR I‑2483, paragraphs 114 and 115).

37. It follows that the framework agreement aims to apply the principle of non-discrimination to fixed-term workers in order to prevent an employer using such an employment relationship to deny those workers rights which are recognised for permanent workers.

11 It should first be recalled that, as the Court has held, it is necessary for the purposes of the application of Article 95 of the Treaty, to take into consideration not only the rate of the internal tax affecting domestic and imported products directly or indirectly but also the basis of assessment and the detailed rules for levying the tax in question (see the judgment in Case 55/79 Commission v Ireland [1980] ECR 481, paragraph 8).

8 THESE DEFENCES PUT FORWARD BY THE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND CANNOT BE ACCEPTED . IN FACT , AS THE COURT OF JUSTICE HAS STATED IN AN ESTABLISHED LINE OF CASES ( SEE JUDGMENTS OF 5 MAY 1970 , COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES V KINGDOM OF BELGIUM , CASE 77/69 ( 1970 ) ECR 237 , 20 FEBRUARY 1973 FONDERIE OFFICINE RIUNITE FOR V VEREINIGTE KAMMGARN-SPINNEREIEN VKS , CASE 54/72 ( 1973 ) ECR 193 , 17 JANUARY 1976 , REWE - ZENTRALE DES LEBENSMITTEL-GROSSHANDELS GMBH V HAUPTZOLLAMT LANDAU-PFALZ , CASE 45/75 ( 1976)ECR 181 , 22 JUNE 1976 BOBIE GETRANKEVERTRIEB GMBH V HAUPTZOLLAMT AACHEN-NORD , CASE 127/75 ( 1976 ) ECR 1079 , 16 FEBRUARY 1977 SCHOTTLE & SOHNE GMBH V FINANZAMT FREUDENSTADT , CASE 20/76 ( 1977 ) ECR 247 , 22 MARCH 1977 , IANELLI & VOLPI S.P.A . V DITTA PAOLO MERONI , CASE 74/76 ( 1977 ) ECR 557 AND 22 MARCH 1977 , FIRMA STEINIKE & WEINLING V FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY , CASE 78/76 ( 1977 ) ECR 595 ), IT IS NECESSARY , FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION LAID DOWN IN ARTICLE 95 , TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE PROVISIONS RELATING OT THE BASIS OF ASSESSMENT AND THE DETAILED RULES FOR LEVYING THE VARIOUS DUTIES IN ADDITION TO THE RATE OF TAX . IN FACT THE DECISIVE CRITERION OF COMPARISON FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 95 IS THE ACTUAL EFFECT OF EACH TAX ON NATIONAL PRODUCTION ON THE ONE HAND AND ON IMPORTED PRODUCTS ON THE OTHER , SINCE EVEN WHERE THE RATE OF TAX IS EQUAL THE EFFECT OF THAT TAX MAY VARY ACCORDING TO THE DETAILED RULES FOR THE BASIS OF ASSESSMENT AND LEVYING THEREOF APPLIED TO NATIONAL PRODUCTION AND IMPORTED PRODUCTS RESPECTIVELY .

43. It is clear from Article 225 EC and the first paragraph of Article 58 of the Statute of the Court of Justice that an appeal lies on points of law only. The Court of First Instance thus has exclusive jurisdiction to find and appraise the relevant facts and to assess the evidence. The appraisal of those facts and the assessment of that evidence thus does not, save where they distort the evidence, constitute a point of law which is subject, as such, to review by the Court of Justice on appeal (see, to that effect, Case C-104/00 P DKV v OHIM [2002] ECR I-7561, paragraph 22; Case C-194/99 P Thyssen Stahl v Commission [2003] ECR I-10821, paragraph 20; and Case C-136/02 P Mag Instrument v OHIM [2004] ECR I-0000, paragraph 39).

34. Par conséquent, c’est à bon droit que le Tribunal a rejeté le grief de SGL relatif à la prise en compte de la valeur de la consommation captive comme irrecevable.

30 Moreover, given the nature and significance of the public interest constituted by the protection of consumers, who are in a position of weakness vis-à-vis sellers or suppliers, Article 7(1) of Directive 93/13 requires the Member States to provide for adequate and effective means to prevent the continued use of unfair terms in contracts concluded with consumers by sellers or suppliers (judgment of 21 January 2015, Unicaja Banco and Caixabank, C‑482/13, C‑484/13, C‑485/13 and C‑487/13, EU:C:2015:21, paragraph 30 and the case-law cited).

29. Compte tenu du fait que le principe de reconnaissance mutuelle, qui sous-tend l’économie de la décision-cadre, implique, en vertu de l’article 6 de cette dernière, que les États membres sont en principe tenus de reconnaître une décision infligeant une sanction pécuniaire qui a été transmise conformément à l’article 4 de la décision-cadre, sans qu’aucune autre formalité soit requise, et de prendre sans délai toutes les mesures nécessaires pour son exécution, les motifs de refus de reconnaissance ou d’exécution d’une telle décision doivent être interprétés d’une manière restrictive (voir, par analogie, arrêt du 29 janvier 2013, Radu, C‑396/11, point 36 et jurisprudence citée).

49. Nothing justifies a parent company’s and its subsidiaries’ uniform conduct on the market having greater importance in the application of the directive than the formal separation between those companies which have distinct legal personalities. That outcome, which would exclude transfers between companies in the same group from the scope of the directive, would be precisely contrary to the directive’s aim, which is, according to the Court, to ensure, so far as possible, that the rights of employees are safeguarded in the event of a change of employer by allowing them to remain in employment with the new employer on the terms and conditions agreed with the transferor ( Allen and Others , paragraph 20).

62 FURTHER THE SAID FIXING OF MINIMUM QUANTITIES COULD FORCE SMALL ITALIAN PRODUCERS, WHO WERE ANXIOUS TO CONTINUE TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN IMPORT OPERATIONS, TO COOPERATE WITH THEIR COUNTERPARTS WHO CARRY ON BUSINESS ON A LARGER SCALE .

40. The right derived by children from Article 12 of Regulation No 1612/68 is also not dependent on the right of residence of their parents in the host Member State. It is settled case-law that Article 12 requires only that the child has lived with his parents or either one of them in a Member State while at least one of them resided there as a worker (Case 197/86 Brown [1988] ECR 3205, paragraph 30, and Gaal , paragraph 27).

39. It is clear from the above that the objective of those three directives is to ensure the free movement of mineral oils in the internal market, and to avoid distortions of competition which could stem from different structures of excise duties.

31. The Court has pointed out that the reason why legislation imposing certain selling arrangements falls outside the scope of Article 30 of the Treaty is that it is not such as to prevent the access of imported products to the market of that Member State or to impede it any more than it impedes the access of domestic products ( Keck and Mithouard , paragraph 17, and Case C-384/93 Alpine Investments [1995] ECR I-1141, paragraph 37).

57. Having regard to the foregoing considerations, the answer to Question 3 is that Article 5(3) of Regulation No 44/2001 must be interpreted as applying to an action seeking to put in issue the liability of the issuer of a certificate on the basis of the prospectus relating to it and of breach of other legal information obligations binding on the issuer, in so far as that liability is not based on a matter relating to a contract, within the meaning of Article 5(1) of the regulation. Under Article 5(3) of Regulation No 44/2001, the courts where the applicant is domiciled have jurisdiction, on the basis of the place where the loss occurred, to hear and determine such an action, particularly when the damage alleged occurred directly in the applicant’s bank account held with a bank established within the area of jurisdiction of those courts. Question 4

48 Nevertheless, it must be observed, in accordance with settled case-law, that legislation is appropriate for ensuring attainment of the objective pursued only if it genuinely reflects a concern to attain it in a consistent and systematic manner, and that exceptions to the provisions of a law can, in certain cases, undermine the consistency of that law, in particular where their scope is such that they lead to a result contrary to the objective pursued by that law (judgment of 21 July 2011, Fuchs and Köhler, C‑159/10 and C‑160/10, EU:C:2011:508, paragraphs 85 and 86).

86. Exceptions to the provisions of a law can, in certain cases, undermine the consistency of that law, in particular where their scope is such that they lead to a result contrary to the objective pursued by that law (see, to that effect, Petersen , paragraph 61).

57. On the other hand, mere adverse repercussions on the rights of third parties, even if the repercussions are certain, do not justify preventing an individual from invoking the provisions of a directive against the Member State concerned (see to this effect, in particular, Case 103/88 Fratelli Costanzo [1989] ECR 1839, paragraphs 28 to 33, WWF and Others , cited above, paragraphs 69 and 71, Case C-194/94 CIA Security International [1996] ECR I-2201, paragraphs 40 to 55, Case C-201/94 Smith & Nephew and Primecrown [1996] ECR I-5819, paragraphs 33 to 39, and Case C-443/98 Unilever [2000] ECR I-7535, paragraphs 45 to 52).

44 That view cannot be adopted. Articles 8 and 9 of Directive 83/189 lay down a precise obligation on Member States to notify draft technical regulations to the Commission before they are adopted. Being, accordingly, unconditional and sufficiently precise in terms of their content, those articles may be relied on by individuals before national courts.

30. However, for an activity to be classified as economic, it is not necessary that it is carried out for profit (see to that effect, judgments in Smits and Peerbooms , C‑157/99, EU:C:2001:404, paragraphs 50 and 52, and Jundt, C‑281/06, EU:C:2007:815, paragraph 33).

50 Some of those governments also maintain that it follows from Case 293/83 Gravier [1985] ECR 593 and Case C-109/92 Wirth [1993] ECR I-6447, paragraph 17, that a further condition to be satisfied before a service can constitute an economic activity within the meaning of Article 60 of the Treaty is that the person providing the service must do so with a view to making a profit.

27. It is settled case-law that Article 54 of the CISA has the objective of ensuring that no one is prosecuted for the same acts in several Contracting States on account of the fact that he exercises his right to freedom of movement (see Joined Cases C‑187/01 and C-385/01 Gözütok and Brügge [2003] ECR I-1345, paragraph 38, and Van Straaten , paragraph 57). It ensures that persons who, when prosecuted, have their cases finally disposed of are left undisturbed. They must be able to move freely without having to fear a fresh prosecution for the same acts in another Contracting State.

31 Finally, as regards the condition of balancing the opposing rights and interests at issue, it depends in principle on the specific circumstances of the particular case (see, to that effect, judgments of 24 November 2011, Asociación Nacional de Establecimientos Financieros de Crédito, C‑468/10 and C‑469/10, EU:C:2011:777, paragraph 40, and of 19 October 2016, Breyer, C‑582/14, EU:C:2016:779, paragraph 62).

29. It is, moreover, apparent from the case-law relating to Article 13A of the Sixth Directive that the exemptions under Article 132 of Directive 2006/112 are not aimed at exempting from VAT every activity performed in the public interest, but only those which are listed and described in great detail in it (see by analogy, in particular, Case 107/84 Commission v Germany [1985] ECR 2655, paragraph 17; Case C‑307/01 D’Ambrumenil and Dispute Resolution Services [2003] ECR I‑13989, paragraph 54; and Eulitz , paragraph 26 and the case-law cited).

3. The Regulation has the objective of improving the efficiency and speed of judicial procedures by establishing the principle of direct transmission of judicial and extrajudicial documents.

32. It should be recalled here that, according to settled case-law, even if, formally, the referring court has limited its question to the interpretation of Article 6(1) of the Directive in relation to a possible justification of the difference of treatment resulting from the application of the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings, that does not prevent the Court from providing that court with all the elements of interpretation of Community law which may be of assistance in adjudicating in the case pending before it, whether or not it has referred to them in the wording of its question (see, inter alia, Case C‑321/03 Dyson [2007] ECR I‑687, paragraph 24; Case C‑392/05 Alevizos [2007] ECR I‑3505, paragraph 64 and the case-law cited; and Case C‑532/06 Lianakis and Others [2008] ECR I‑251, paragraph 23). It is for the Court to extract from all the information provided by the national court, in particular from the grounds of the decision to make the reference, the points of Community law which require interpretation in view of the subject-matter of the dispute (see Case C‑115/08 ČEZ [2009] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 81 and the case-law cited).

35 Consequently, it must be held that, by precluding by regulation or administrative practice on the grounds of their nationality employed or self-employed workers from other Member States and the members of their families from being attributed large-family status for the purpose of the award of special benefits for such families and from being awarded family allowances, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 48 and 52 of the EC Treaty, Article 7 of Regulation No 1612/68, Article 7 of Regulation No 1251/70, Article 7 of Directive 75/34 and Article 3 of Regulation No 1408/71.

115 However, a mere statement of intention, given that it refers to a future and uncertain situation, cannot suffice, in accordance with the case-law cited in paragraph 84 above, to establish Bionarica’s current and vested interest in bringing proceedings (see also, to that effect, judgment of 20 June 2013, Cañas v Commission, C‑269/12 P, not published, EU:C:2013:415, paragraphs 16 and 17).

17. En second lieu, il convient de relever que ce constat n’a pas, à lui seul, conduit le Tribunal à considérer que le requérant ne disposait pas ou ne disposait plus d’un intérêt à agir. En effet, cette juridiction a rappelé à bon droit, au point 57 de l’ordonnance attaquée, que, en principe, une partie conserve son intérêt à poursuivre un recours en annulation, dès lors qu’il peut constituer la base d’un recours éventuel en responsabilité. Dans les points suivants de l’ordonnance attaquée, le Tribunal a examiné si tel était bien le cas en l’espèce et est parvenu, au point 66 de ladite ordonnance, à la conclusion qu’il s’agissait, en l’occurrence, d’une situation future et incertaine, ne permettant pas d’établir l’existence d’un intérêt né et actuel à la poursuite de la présente procédure.

138. It should be noted, first, as stated in the judgment under appeal, that according to the established case-law of the Court of Justice, the European Union may incur non-contractual liability for the purposes of the second paragraph of Article 340 TFEU only if three conditions are fulfilled, namely the unlawfulness of the conduct of which the Union institutions are accused, the occurrence of actual damage and the existence of a causal link between that conduct and the harm alleged (see, inter alia, Case C‑257/98 P Lucaccioni v Commission [1999] ECR I‑5251, paragraph 11, and Joined Cases C‑162/01 P and C‑163/01 P Bouma and Beusmans v Council and Commission [2004] ECR I‑4509, paragraph 43).

18 The same is true of any amendment subsequent to the entry into force of the Sixth Directive which increases the extent of exclusions applicable immediately before that amendment.

11 According to settled case-law, the question whether a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations must be determined by reference to the situation prevailing in the Member State at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion (see, in particular, Case C-384/99 Commission v Belgium [2000] ECR I-10633, paragraph 16). It is clear that, on expiry of the period of two months prescribed by the reasoned opinion, the implementation of Directive 97/7 in Spanish law had not been completed.

32. À titre liminaire, il convient de rappeler que, pour déterminer la portée d’une disposition du droit de l’Union, il y a lieu de tenir compte à la fois de ses termes, de son contexte et de ses finalités (arrêt du 29 octobre 2009, NCC Construction Danmark, C‑174/08, Rec. p. I‑10567, point 23 et jurisprudence citée).

14 Those provisions are sufficiently precise and unconditional to enable the national court to determine whether or not a person should be regarded as a person intended to benefit under the directive. A national court need only verify whether the person concerned is an employed person under national law and whether he is excluded from the scope of the directive in accordance with Article 1(2) and Annex 1 (as to the necessary conditions for such exclusion, see the judgments in Case 22/87 Commission v Italy, cited above, paragraphs 18 to 23, and Case C-53/88 Commission v Greece [1990] ECR I-3917, paragraphs 11 to 26), and then ascertain whether one of the situations of insolvency provided for in Article 2 of the directive exists.

14 Selon une jurisprudence constante de la Cour ( voir, en dernier lieu, l' arrêt du 27 mars 1990, Espagne/Conseil, point 21, C-9/89, Rec . p . I-1383 ), l' article 34 du traité vise les seules mesures qui ont pour objet ou pour effet de restreindre spécifiquement les courants d' exportation et d' établir ainsi une différence de traitement entre le commerce intérieur d' un État membre et son commerce d' exportation, de manière à assurer un avantage particulier à la production nationale ou au marché intérieur, au détriment de la production ou du commerce d' autres États membres .

45 Consequently, according to settled case-law, the fundamental principle of VAT neutrality requires deduction of input tax to be allowed if the substantive requirements are satisfied, even if the taxable person has failed to comply with some of the formal requirements (judgments of 12 July 2012 in EMS-Bulgaria Transport, C‑284/11, EU:C:2012:458, paragraph 62 and the case-law cited, and 9 July 2015 in Salomie and Oltean, C‑183/14, EU:C:2015:454, paragraph 58 and the case-law cited).

60. Moreover, the applicability of that directive is not called into question by the fact that the accidental spillage of hydrocarbons took place not on the land territory of a Member State but in its exclusive economic zone.

65 In the main proceedings, it is common ground that the Austrian authorities did not consult the VAT Committee before adopting the 1996 regulations, contrary to the requirement in the first sentence of Article 17(7) of the directive. The Austrian Government may not therefore rely on those regulations to the detriment of taxable persons (see, by analogy, concerning Article 27(1) and (5) of the Sixth Directive, Lennartz, paragraph 34).

25. À cet égard, il convient de rappeler que l’article 4, paragraphe 1, de la directive 87/344, relatif au libre choix du représentant, a une portée générale et une valeur obligatoire (voir arrêts précités Eschig, point 47, et Stark, point 29).

45. In the absence of such precision, it is important, however, that other elements, taken from the general context of the measure concerned, enable the underlying aim of that measure to be identified for the purposes of review by the courts of its legitimacy and whether the means put in place to achieve that aim are appropriate and necessary ( Palacios de la Villa , paragraph 57).

13 Under the regulations applicable at the material time to the ports of Gedser and Rødby, also owned by DSB, shipping duty for ferry traffic consisted of a monthly charge on each vessel of 830 öre per deadweight or gross registered tonne, which conferred the right to unlimited docking during the month in question. Subject to two exceptions, goods duty came to 940 öre per tonne.

42 The Court has stated that it is compatible with EU law to lay down reasonable time limits for bringing proceedings in the interests of legal certainty which protects both the individual and the authorities concerned, even if the expiry of those periods necessarily entails the dismissal, in whole or in part, of the action brought (see, to that effect, judgment of 8 September 2011, Q-Beef and Bosschaert, C‑89/10 and C‑96/10, EU:C:2011:555, paragraph 36). By way of example, limitation periods of three years (judgment of 15 April 2010, Barth, C‑542/08, EU:C:2010:193, paragraph 28) or two years (judgment of 15 December 2011, Banca Antoniana Popolare Veneta, C‑427/10, EU:C:2011:844, paragraph 25), have been held to be compatible with the principle of effectiveness.

65. Constituent des «litiges à caractère pécuniaire» au sens de cette disposition non seulement les actions en responsabilité dirigées par les agents contre une institution, mais aussi tous ceux qui tendent au versement par une institution à un agent d’une somme qu’il estime lui être due en vertu du statut ou d’un autre acte qui régit leurs relations de travail (voir, en ce sens, arrêt du 2 octobre 2001, BEI/Hautem, C‑449/99 P, Rec. p. I-6733).

49. Thus, the Court may refuse to rule on a question referred for a preliminary ruling by a national court only where it is quite obvious that the interpretation of European Union law that is sought bears no relation to the actual facts of the main action or its purpose, where the problem is hypothetical, or where the Court does not have before it the factual or legal material necessary to give a useful answer to the questions submitted to it (see, inter alia, Case C-450/06 Varec [2008] ECR I-581, paragraph 24 and the case-law cited).

24. Nevertheless, the Court has also held that, in exceptional circumstances, it can examine the conditions in which the case was referred to it by the national court, in order to assess whether it has jurisdiction (see, to that effect, Case 244/80 Foglia [1981] ECR 3045, paragraph 21). The Court may refuse to rule on a question referred for a preliminary ruling by a national court only where it is quite obvious that the interpretation of Community law that is sought bears no relation to the actual facts of the main action or its purpose, where the problem is hypothetical, or where the Court does not have before it the factual or legal material necessary to give a useful answer to the questions submitted to it (see, in particular, Case C‑379/98 PreussenElektra [2001] ECR I‑2099, paragraph 39; Case C‑390/99 Canal Satélite Digital [2002] ECR I‑607, paragraph 19; and Conseil général de la Vienne , paragraph 20).

31. However, Article 9(1)(c) of the Directive permits authorisation by way of derogation, in compliance with the conditions set out in that provision, of the hunting of the species listed in Annex II thereto during the periods referred to in Article 7(4) and thus in particular during the rearing season and during the various stages of reproduction (see, to that effect, Case C-182/02 Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux and Others [2003] ECR I-12105, paragraphs 9 to 11, and Case C‑135/04 Commission v Spain [2005] ECR I-0000, paragraph 17).

34. It would be incompatible with the right of freedom of movement were a worker or a person seeking employment, in the Member State of which he is a national, to receive treatment less favourable than he would enjoy if he had not availed himself of the opportunities offered by the Treaty in relation to freedom of movement (see, to that effect, Case C‑224/98 D’Hoop [2002] ECR I-6191, paragraph 30, and Case C‑224/02 Pusa [2004] ECR I-5763, paragraph 18).

40. Furthermore, while national legislation such as that at issue in the main proceedings – which applies to Spanish nationals and to nationals of other Member States alike – is, generally, capable of falling within the scope of the provisions relating to the fundamental freedoms established by the Treaty only to the extent that it applies to situations connected with trade between the Member States, it is far from inconceivable that nationals established in Member States other than the Kingdom of Spain have been or are interested in operating pharmacies in the Autonomous Community of Asturias (see, to that effect, Case C-384/08 Attanasio Group [2010] ECR I-0000, paragraphs 23 and 24 and the case-law cited).

36. In that context, the Court has specified that the obligation on the part of the undertaking entrusted with that task to perform its services under conditions of economic equilibrium presupposes that it will be possible to offset less profitable sectors against the profitable sectors and hence justifies a restriction of competition from individual undertakings where the economically profitable sectors are concerned ( Corbeau , paragraph 17).

61. However, there can be no requirement that in every case the statement of complaints in the letter of formal notice, the operative part of the reasoned opinion and the form of order sought in the application must be exactly the same, where the subject-matter of the proceedings has not been extended or altered but simply limited (Case C-191/95 Commission v Germany , paragraph 56; Case C-365/97 Commission v Italy , paragraph 25; and Case C-177/04 Commission v France [2006] ECR I-0000, paragraph 37).

66. To the extent that, although residing in one Member State, a person such as Mr Renneberg derives most of his taxable income from salaried employment in another Member State and has no significant income in his Member State of residence, he is, for the purposes of taking into account his ability to pay tax, in a situation objectively comparable, with regard to his Member State of employment, to that of a resident of that Member State who is also in salaried employment there.

25. In order to determine whether national legislation involves the implementation of EU law for the purposes of Article 51 of the Charter, some of the points to be determined are whether that legislation is intended to implement a provision of EU law; the nature of that legislation and whether it pursues objectives other than those covered by EU law, even if it is capable of indirectly affecting EU law; and also whether there are specific rules of EU law on the matter or capable of affecting it (see Case C‑309/96 Annibaldi [1997] ECR I‑7493, paragraphs 21 to 23; Case C‑40/11 Iida [2012] ECR, paragraph 79; and Case C‑87/12 Ymeraga and Others [2013] ECR, paragraph 41).

20 It must be observed that, pursuant to Article 17(4) of the Sixth Directive, the purpose of the Eighth Directive is to lay down detailed arrangements for the refund of VAT paid in a Member State by taxable persons established in another Member State. Its objective is therefore to harmonise the right to refund as provided for in Article 17(3) of the Sixth Directive.

19 In Vroege (paragraphs 20 to 27) and Fisscher (paragraphs 17 to 24) the Court stated that the limitation of the effects in time of the Barber judgment concerned only those kinds of discrimination which employers and pension schemes could reasonably have considered to be permissible owing to the transitional derogations for which Community law provided and which were capable of being applied to occupational pensions, in particular those of Directive 86/378.

29 It has indeed been clear since the judgment in the Bilka case that a breach of the rule of equal treatment committed through not recognizing such a right is caught by Article 119.

37 In that regard, whilst national legislation reducing the period within which repayment of sums collected in breach of Community law may be sought is not incompatible with the principle of effectiveness, this is subject to the condition not only that the new limitation period is reasonable but also that the new legislation includes transitional arrangements allowing an adequate period after the enactment of the legislation for lodging claims for repayment which persons were entitled to submit under the original legislation. Such transitional arrangements are necessary where the immediate application to those claims of a limitation period shorter than that which was previously in force would have the effect of retroactively depriving some individuals of their right to repayment, or of allowing them too short a period for asserting that right (Case C-62/00 Marks & Spencer [2002] ECR I-0000, paragraph 38).

22 Those grounds must correspond to a general interest which is superior to the general interest represented by the ecological objective of the directive. In that context the interests referred to in Article 2 of the directive, namely economic and recreational requirements, do not enter into consideration. As the Court pointed out in its judgments in Case 247/85 (Commission v Belgium [1987] ECR 3029) and Case 262/85 (Commission v Italy [1987] ECR 3073), that provision does not constitute an autonomous derogation from the general system of protection established by the directive.

35. Such a restriction is permissible only if it pursues a legitimate objective compatible with the Treaty and is justified by imperative reasons in the public interest. It is further necessary, in such a case, that its application be appropriate to ensuring the attainment of the objective thus pursued and not go beyond what is necessary to attain it (see, to that effect, Case C-250/95 Futura Participations and Singer [1997] ECR I-2471, paragraph 26, and Case C-9/02 De Lasteyrie du Saillant [2004] ECR I-2409, paragraph 49).

65. By considering that it may be presumed that the family members of leading business figures also benefit from the economic policies of the government, the General Court extended the category of natural persons who may be subject to targeted restrictive measures.

23. Moreover, in proceedings under Article 234 EC, which are based on a clear separation of functions between the national courts and tribunals and the Court of Justice, any assessment of the facts in the case is a matter for the national court or tribunal (see, inter alia, Joined Cases C‑211/03, C‑299/03 and C‑316/03 to C‑318/03 HLH Warenvertrieb and Orthica [2005] ECR I‑5141, paragraph 96, and Case C‑119/05 Lucchini [2007] ECR I‑6199, paragraph 43). In particular, the Court is empowered to rule only on the interpretation or the validity of Community acts on the basis of the facts placed before it by the national court or tribunal (see, inter alia, Case 104/77 Oehlschläger [1978] ECR 791, paragraph 4, and Case C‑467/04 Gasparini and Others [2006] ECR I‑9199, paragraph 41). It is for the national court or tribunal to ascertain the facts which have given rise to the dispute and to establish the consequences which they have for the judgment which it is required to deliver (see, to that effect, Case 17/81 Pabst & Richarz [1982] ECR 1331, paragraph 12, and Case C‑291/05 Eind [2007] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 18).

29. À cet égard, il convient de rappeler que, selon une jurisprudence constante, la procédure instituée à l’article 267 TFUE est un instrument de coopération entre la Cour et les juridictions nationales, grâce auquel la première fournit aux secondes les éléments d’interprétation du droit de l’Union qui leur sont nécessaires pour la solution des litiges qu’elles sont appelées à trancher (voir, notamment, arrêt du 6 juin 2013, MA e.a., C‑648/11, point 36 et jurisprudence citée).

41. It follows that Directive 2008/115 is applicable to those effects which occur after the date of its applicability in the Member State concerned of entry-ban decisions taken under national rules which were applicable before that date (see, by analogy, Case C‑357/09 PPU Kadzoev [2009] I‑11189, paragraph 38).

63. Finally, it should be added that in the present case, apart from the fact that the unlawful aid in question is particularly harmful to competition because of its large amount, the unusually large number of recipients and its being paid regardless of the economic sector of the recipients, as the Commission rightly points out, it is common ground that a substantial part of the aid has not yet been recovered, or that proof of recovery has not been provided to the Commission.

22. It follows from the case-law that the Court does not have jurisdiction, under Article 234 EC, to rule on a possible infringement, by a contracting Member State, of provisions of bilateral conventions entered into by the Member States designed to eliminate or to mitigate the negative effects of the coexistence of national tax regimes (see, to that effect, Case C‑298/05 Columbus Container Services [2007] ECR I‑10451, paragraph 46). Nor may the Court examine the relationship between a national measure and the provisions of a double taxation convention, such as the bilateral tax convention at issue in the main proceedings, since that question does not fall within the scope of the interpretation of Community law (see, to that effect, Case C‑141/99 AMID [2000] ECR I‑11619, paragraph 18, and Columbus Container Services , paragraph 47).

13 WHILST THE STAFF REGULATIONS PROHIBIT THE RESERVING OF POSTS FOR NATIONALS OF ANY SPECIFIC MEMBER STATE, THE APPOINTING AUTHORITY MAY NEVERTHELESS MAKE ITS SELECTION, WHEN RECRUITING AN OFFICIAL, DEPENDENT UPON SPECIFIC LINGUISTIC ABILITIES REQUIRED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE SERVICE .

22. It must, however, be borne in mind that the reasons which may be invoked by a Member State by way of justification must be accompanied by an analysis of the appropriateness and proportionality of the restrictive measure adopted by that State (Case C-8/02 Leichtle [2004] ECR I-2641, paragraph 45).

15 Pursuant to that rule, the Belgian survivor's pension could only be reduced within the limit of the amount of the French old-age pension.

45. That conclusion is borne out by the fact that, in the fixed scales in Annex 4 to OUG No 50/2008, due account is taken of the circumstance that the annual depreciation in value of motor vehicles is generally more than 5% and is not linear, particularly in the first years, in which it is much greater than subsequently (see Commission v Greece , paragraph 30 and the case-law cited).

33. In the light of the above, it is necessary to recast the question referred so that it relates to the interpretation of the principle of effective judicial protection as enshrined in Article 47 of the Charter, in order to ascertain whether, in the context of a procedure for pursuing a claim seeking to establish State liability under EU law, that provision precludes a national rule under which the pursuit of a claim before the courts is subject to the making of an advance payment in respect of costs and under which a legal person does not qualify for legal aid even though it is unable to make that advance payment.

44. It is appropriate to bear in mind in that regard the Court’s case-law, according to which any pecuniary charge, whatever its designation and mode of application, which is imposed unilaterally on goods by reason of the fact that they cross a frontier, and which is not a customs duty in the strict sense, constitutes a charge having equivalent effect within the meaning of Articles 28 TFEU and 30 TFEU (see judgments in Nádasdi and Németh , C‑290/05 and C‑333/05, EU:C:2006:652, paragraphs 38 and 39, and Brzeziński , C‑313/05, EU:C:2007:33, paragraph 22 and the case-law cited).

39. As regards the question whether that duty is a charge having equivalent effect, it is settled case-law that any pecuniary charge, whatever its designation and mode of application, which is imposed unilaterally on goods by reason of the fact that they cross a frontier, and which is not a customs duty in the strict sense, constitutes a charge having equivalent effect within the meaning of Articles 23 EC and 25 EC (see, inter alia, Case C‑90/94 Haahr Petroleum [1997] ECR I‑4085, paragraph 20, and Case C-213/96 Outokumpu [1998] ECR I‑1777, paragraph 20).

25. With regard, more specifically, to the provisions of Article 3 of Directive 85/374, the Court has already had occasion to state, following consideration of the travaux préparatoires culminating in the adoption of the directive, that it was after weighing up the parts played by the various economic operators involved in the production and marketing chain that the choice was made to allocate liability for damage caused by defective products in principle to producers, and only in certain defined cases to importers and suppliers, in the legal system established by the directive ( Skov and Bilka , paragraph 29).

37 In that regard, it should be noted that, according to settled case-law, the procedure set out in Article 267 TFEU is an instrument of cooperation between the Court and the national courts, which gives the latter the responsibility to determine, in view of the special features of each case, both the need for a preliminary ruling in order to enable them to give their judgment and the relevance of the questions which they put to the Court (judgment of 12 October 2017, Kubicka, C‑218/16, EU:C:2017:755, paragraph 31 and the case-law cited).

26 In order for Directive 77/187 to be applicable, however, the transfer must relate to a stable economic entity whose activity is not limited to performing one specific works contract (Case C-48/94 Rygaard [1995] ECR I-2745, paragraph 20). The term `entity' thus refers to an organised grouping of persons and of assets enabling an economic activity which pursues a specific objective to be exercised (Süzen, cited above, paragraph 13).

33 Both that discretion and that obligation are an inherent part of the system of cooperation between the national courts and the Court of Justice established by Article 267 TFEU and of the functions of the court responsible for the application of EU law entrusted by that provision to the national courts.

47. In addition, according to settled case-law, medical services supplied for consideration fall within the scope of the provisions of the FEU Treaty on the freedom to provide services, there being no need to distinguish between care provided in a hospital environment and care provided outside such an environment (see, in particular, Smits and Peerbooms , paragraph 53, and Commission v France , paragraph 30).

29. On the other hand, Ms Czop cannot derive a right of residence from the sole fact that she is the primary carer of her son Lukasz Czop, who entered the educational system in the United Kingdom in 2006.

41. Finally, so far as concerns the third argument, it is apparent from Joined Cases C‑403/08 and C-429/08 Football Association Premier League and Others [2011] ECR I-0000, paragraphs 76 to 145, that communications to the public by satellite must be capable of being received in all the Member States and that they therefore by definition have a cross-border nature. Furthermore, the communications at issue in the main proceedings display such a nature since they involve Belgian and Netherlands companies, Airfield and Canal Digitaal, and the programme-carrying signals are intended in particular for television viewers residing in Belgium and Luxembourg.

55. The objective of maximising public revenue alone cannot permit such a restriction of the freedom to provide services.

48 Since the complainants undeniably qualify as persons entitled to the benefit of the procedural guarantees in question, they must, as such, be regarded as directly and individually concerned by the contested decision. Consequently, they were entitled to seek its annulment (Cook v Commission, paragraphs 25 and 26).

26 In that capacity, consequently, Cook must be considered to be directly and individually concerned by Commission Decision NN 12/91. It is therefore entitled to seek the annulment of that decision on the basis of the second paragraph of Article 173 of the Treaty. Substance

105 In that connection, regard must be had to the content of the provisions of the agreement at issue, the objectives which it seeks to attain and the economic and legal context of which it forms part (see, inter alia, judgment of 20 January 2016, Toshiba Corporation v Commission, C‑373/14 P, EU:C:2016:26, paragraph 27).

27 The Court’s case-law has also established that, in order to determine whether an agreement between undertakings reveals a sufficient degree of harm that it may be considered a ‘restriction of competition by object’ within the meaning of Article 101(1) TFEU, regard must be had to the content of its provisions, its objectives and the economic and legal context of which it forms part (judgment in ING Pensii, C‑172/14, EU:C:2015:484, paragraph 33).

43 In view of those principles, limiting the effects of a judgment giving a preliminary ruling on a matter of interpretation appears to be quite exceptional (see, in particular, the judgment in Case 61/79 Denkavit Italiana, paragraph 17). The Court has taken such a step only in certain specific circumstances, where there was a risk of serious economic repercussions owing in particular to the large number of legal relationships entered into in good faith on the basis of rules considered to be validly in force, and where it appeared that both individuals and national authorities had been led into adopting practices which did not comply with Community law by reason of objective, significant uncertainty regarding the implications of Community provisions, to which the conduct of other Member States or the Commission may even have contributed (see, in particular, the judgment in Case C-163/90 Administration des Douanes et Droits Indirects v Legros and Others [1992] ECR I-4625).

48. Pour ce faire, d’une part, l’article 4 de la directive 93/13 indique que la réponse doit être apportée en tenant compte de la nature des biens ou des services qui font l’objet du contrat et en se référant, au moment de la conclusion du contrat, à toutes les circonstances qui entourent sa conclusion. Il convient de relever que, dans ce contexte, doivent également être appréciées les conséquences que ladite clause peut avoir dans le cadre du droit applicable au contrat, ce qui implique un examen du système juridique national (arrêt Freiburger Kommunalbauten, C‑237/02, EU:C:2004:209, point 21, et ordonnance Pohotovosť, C‑76/10, EU:C:2010:685, point 59).

71 It follows from the case-law of the Court of Justice, however, that the taking into account, by virtue of the principle of equal treatment, of differences between the undertakings that have participated in a single cartel (in particular with regard to the geographic scope of their respective involvement) for the purpose of assessing the gravity of an infringement need not necessarily occur when the multipliers for the ‘gravity of the infringement’ and for the ‘additional amount’ are set but may occur at another stage in the setting of the fine, such as when the basic amount of the fine is adjusted in the light of mitigating and aggravating circumstances under points 28 and 29 of the 2006 Guidelines (see, to that effect, judgments of 11 July 2013, Gosselin Group v Commission, C‑429/11 P, not published, EU:C:2013:463, paragraphs 96 to 100, and of 11 July 2013, Team Relocations and Others v Commission, C‑444/11 P, not published, EU:C:2013:464, paragraphs 104 and 105).

70. Where several authorities control an undertaking, the condition relating to the essential part of its activities may be met if that undertaking carries out the essential part of its activities, not necessarily with one of those authorities, but with all of those authorities together.

73. In those circumstances, it is for the referring court to ascertain whether the abovementioned orders are ordinary in the light of both the previous business relations between the pharmaceuticals company holding a dominant position and the wholesalers concerned and the size of the orders in relation to the requirements of the market in the Member State concerned (see, to that effect, United Brands and United Brands Continentaal v Commission , paragraph 182, and Case 77/77 Benzine en Petroleum Handelsmaatschappij and Others v Commission [1978] ECR 1513, paragraphs 30 to 32).

72. It is that mutual trust which has enabled a compulsory system of jurisdiction to be established, which all the courts within the purview of Regulation No 2201/2003 are required to respect, and as a corollary the waiver by Member States of the right to apply their internal rules on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in favour of a simplified mechanism for the recognition and enforcement of decisions handed down in matters of parental responsibility (see, by analogy, in relation to insolvency proceedings, Case C‑341/04 Eurofood IFSC [2006] ECR I‑3813, paragraph 40).

25. With regard to Article 2 of Directive 2004/18, it must be borne in mind that the principal objectives of the European Union rules in the field of public procurement include that of ensuring the free movement of services and the opening-up to undistorted competition in all the Member States. In order to pursue that twofold objective, European Union law applies, inter alia, the principle of equal treatment of tenderers and the obligation of transparency resulting therefrom (see, to that effect, Case C‑454/06 pressetext Nachrichtenagentur [2008] ECR I‑4401, paragraphs 31 and 32 and the case-law cited). The obligation of transparency, for its part, is essentially intended to preclude any risk of favouritism or arbitrariness on the part of the contracting authority (see, to that effect, Case C‑496/99 P Commission v CAS Succhi di Frutta [2004] ECR I‑3801, paragraph 111). As regards the award of contracts, Article 2 of Directive 2004/18 requires contracting authorities to comply with the same principles and obligations.

22. Accordingly, the image of a person recorded by a camera constitutes personal data within the meaning of Article 2(a) of Directive 95/46 inasmuch as it makes it possible to identify the person concerned.

33 As the Court has held on several occasions, a comparison of the national systems shows that the problem of disputing charges which have been unlawfully claimed or refunding charges which have been paid when not due is settled in different ways in the various Member States, and even within a single Member State, according to the various kinds of taxes or charges in question. In certain cases, objections or claims of this type are subject to specific procedural conditions and time-limits under the law with regard both to complaints submitted to the tax authorities and to legal proceedings. In other cases, claims for repayment of charges which were paid but not due must be brought before the ordinary courts, mainly in the form of claims for the refunding of sums paid but not owed, such actions being available for varying lengths of time, in some cases for the limitation period laid down under the general law (see Case 68/79 Just v Ministry for Fiscal Affairs [1980] ECR 501, paragraphs 22 and 23; Denkavit Italiana, cited above, paragraphs 23 and 24; Case 811/79 Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato v Ariete [1980] ECR 2545, paragraphs 10 and 11, and Case 826/79 Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato v Mireco [1980] ECR 2559, paragraphs 11 and 12).

28. Therefore, Article 23(1) of the Regulation must be interpreted as meaning that, like the aim pursued by the first paragraph of Article 17 of the Brussels Convention, ensuring the real consent of the parties is one of the aims of that provision (see MSG , paragraph 17 and Case C-159/97 Castelletti [1999] ECR I-1597, paragraph 19).

19. As the Court has held on numerous occasions, two conditions must be cumulatively fulfilled in order for that provision to apply: the activities must be carried out by a body governed by public law and they must be carried out by that body acting as a public authority (see to that effect, particularly, Case C‑202/90 Ayuntamiento de Sevilla [1991] ECR I‑4247, paragraph 18, and Fazenda Pública , cited above, paragraph 15).

25. That regulation is part of the more general context of an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured in conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border controls, asylum, immigration and the prevention and combating of crime (Article 3(2) TEU). The first sentence of Article 67(2) TFEU states that the Union is to ‘ensure the absence of internal border controls for persons and ... frame a common policy on asylum, immigration and external border control, based on solidarity between Member States, which is fair towards third-country nationals’.

16. As a preliminary point, it should be noted that Article 13A of the Sixth Directive relates to the exemption from VAT of certain activities in the public interest. However, that exemption does not cover every activity performed in the public interest, but only those which are listed in that provision and described in great detail (see Case C‑149/97 Institute of the Motor Industry [1998] ECR I‑7053, paragraph 18; Joined Cases C‑394/04 and C‑395/04 Ygeia [2005] ECR I‑10373, paragraph 16; and Case C‑401/05 VDP Dental Laboratory [2006] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 24).

52. Dans ces conditions, il y a lieu de relever que de tels objectifs peuvent être légitimement poursuivis par les États membres.

67 It should also be recalled that, according to the settled case-law of the Court, in setting the amount of fines, regard must be had to the duration of the infringement and to all the factors capable of affecting the assessment of the gravity of that infringement (judgments of 28 June 2005, Dansk Rørindustri and Others v Commission, C‑189/02 P, C‑202/02 P, C‑205/02 P to C‑208/02 P and C‑213/02 P, EU:C:2005:408, paragraph 240, and of 11 July 2013, Team Relocations and Others v Commission, C‑444/11 P, not published, EU:C:2013:464, paragraph 98).

20. Article 7(1) of the Directive imposes on employers a principal obligation to designate one or more workers to carry out activities related to protection against and prevention of occupational risks. Article 7(3) provides for an obligation to enlist competent external persons or services. However, that obligation is merely subsidiary to that laid down in Article 7(1), since it arises only "if such protective and preventive measures cannot be organised for lack of competent personnel in the undertaking and/or establishment" .

105. It is common ground that the measures contained in Law No 218/90 were never notified to the Commission. Therefore, as regards the allegation that the measure provided for in Article 7(3) of that law was very similar to the tax reduction, it is sufficient to note that that measure was not examined by the Commission. In that context, the time which has elapsed since the adoption of that law, as pleaded by Unicredito, is irrelevant. In addition, even supposing that the two successive measures are, as suggested by the national tribunal, related, the one being a continuation and extension of the other, the fact that the Commission took no action regarding the first is immaterial, since the system at issue in the current proceedings, viewed independently of its predecessor, favours certain undertakings (see, to that effect, Case 57/86 Greece v Commission [1988] ECR 2855, paragraph 10).

25. It should be pointed out, first, that in so far as no appeal lies against the decisions of a national court, such a court is, in principle, obliged to make a reference to the Court of Justice under the third paragraph of Article 267 TFEU where a question relating to the interpretation of the TFEU is raised before it (Case C‑337/95 Parfums Christian Dior [1997] ECR I‑6013, paragraph 26).

25. According to established case‑law, in order to determine whether national legislation falls within the scope of one or other of the freedoms of movement, the purpose of the legislation concerned must be taken into consideration (see, to that effect, Case C‑196/04 Cadbury Schweppes and Cadbury Schweppes Overseas [2006] ECR I‑7995, paragraphs 31 to 33; Case C‑452/04 Fidium Finanz [2006] ECR I‑9521, paragraphs 34 and 44 to 49; and Case C‑182/08 Glaxo Wellcome [2009] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 36).

18 Moreover, it is apparent from Rule 2(a) of the General Rules for the interpretation of the CN that, for the purposes of customs classification, an incomplete or unfinished article is to be treated in the same way as a complete or finished article, provided that it has the essential character of the complete or finished article. That rule of interpretation is itself clarified by the Customs Cooperation Council's explanatory notes, according to which the heading relating to the finished product covers blanks, that is to say, articles which, although not ready for direct use, have the approximate shape or outline of the finished article and can only be used for completion into the finished article.

44 As the Advocate General noted in point 53 of her Opinion, the mandatory nature of the registration of the import of chemical products with the competent national authority constitutes a measure having an effect equivalent to a quantitative restriction within the meaning of Article 34 TFEU, since the fact of imposing formalities for import is capable of hindering trade within the European Union and impeding access to the market for goods which are lawfully produced and marketed in other Member States (see, to that effect, judgment in Ahokainen and Leppik, C‑434/04, EU:C:2006:609, paragraph 21), which is, moreover, disputed neither by the referring court nor by any of the parties interested in accordance with Article 23 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union who have submitted observations in the present case.

28. À cet égard, il est de jurisprudence constante que, dans le cadre d’une procédure visée à l’article 267 TFUE, la Cour est uniquement habilitée à se prononcer sur l’interprétation ou la validité d’un texte de l’Union à partir des faits qui lui sont indiqués par la juridiction nationale (voir arrêts du 16 mars 1978, Oehlschläger, 104/77, Rec. p. 791, point 4; du 11 septembre 2008, Eckelkamp e.a., C‑11/07, Rec. p. I‑6845, point 52, ainsi que ordonnance du 8 novembre 2012, SKP, C‑433/11, point 24).

53. It should also be borne in mind that the principle of fiscal neutrality is the reflection, in matters relating to VAT, of the principle of equal treatment (Case C-106/05 L.u.P . [2006] ECR I‑5123, paragraph 48 and case-law cited, and Case C-309/06 Marks & Spencer [2008] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 49).

48. However, it is also clear from the case-law that it is for the national courts to examine whether the Member States, in imposing such conditions, have observed the limits of their discretion in applying Community principles, in particular the principle of equal treatment (see, to that effect, Dornier , paragraph 69; Kingscrest Associates and Montecello , paragraph 52; and Solleveld and van den Hout-van Eijnsbergen , paragraph 36).

45 According to the settled case-law of the Court, in interpreting a provision of EU law, it is necessary to consider not only its wording but also the context in which it occurs and the objects of the rules of which it is part (judgment of 26 March 2015 in Litaksa, C‑556/13, EU:C:2015:202, paragraph 23 and the case-law cited).

36. The use of expressions which are not exactly the same in all the language versions of Article 9(1) of the VAT Directive does not call that finding into question. Both the expression ‘independently’ and the expression ‘autonomously’ express the need to assess the employer-employee relationship in the pursuit of an economic activity.

48. In the present case, application of the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings to a migrant worker in the same way as to a non-migrant worker gives rise to unforeseen consequences, hardly compatible with the aim of Article 39 EC and attributable to the very fact that the migrant worker’s entitlement to invalidity benefits are governed by two different bodies of legislation, as is apparent from paragraphs 28 to 33 of this judgment (see, by analogy, van Munster , paragraph 30).

4 ACCORDING TO ARTICLE 177 OF THE TREATY IT IS FOR THE NATIONAL COURT AND NOT THE PARTIES TO THE MAIN ACTION TO BRING THE MATTER BEFORE THE COURT OF JUSTICE . SINCE THE POWER TO FORMULATE THE QUESTIONS TO BE REFERRED IS VESTED IN THE NATIONAL COURT ALONE THE PARTIES CANNOT ALTER THE WORDING OF THOSE QUESTIONS . IN THE PRESENT CASE, IT IS CLEAR FROM THE TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT IN WHICH THE COTE D' APPELLO, BRESCIA, DECIDED TO MAKE THE REFERENCE TO THE COURT OF JUSTICE THAT THE NATIONAL COURT HAS ITSELF REACHED A DECISION ON THE QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE PERIOD AFTER 30 JUNE 1967 . THERE IS THEREFORE NO REASON TO EXAMINE THE PROBLEMS RELATING TO THAT PERIOD . II - THE QUESTIONS REFERRED TO THE COURT

14. In that context, the Directive draws a distinction between, on the one hand, products held for commercial purposes and, on the other hand, products held for private purposes ( Joustra , paragraph 28).

25. In the case at issue in the main proceedings, child-raising allowance is claimed by Ms Hartmann, who, as the spouse of a worker who falls within the scope of Regulation No 1612/68, is only an indirect beneficiary of the equal treatment granted to migrant workers by Article 7(2) of that regulation. Consequently, the benefit of German child-raising allowance can be extended to Ms Hartmann only if that allowance constitutes for her husband a ‘social advantage’ within the meaning of Article 7(2) of Regulation No 1612/68 (see, by analogy, Case C‑3/90 Bernini [1992] ECR I‑1071, paragraph 26).

44. Even on the assumption that the organisation of the labour market, including the prevention of the loss of qualified workers, could, in some circumstances and subject to certain conditions being complied with, justify restrictions on the freedom of movement for workers, it must in any event be held that national legislation such as the legislation at issue in the main proceedings goes beyond what appears necessary to achieve the objectives pursued. Such objectives do not justify the systematic refusal of the benefit of recruitment vouchers to persons seeking employment who are recruited in other Member States. Such a measure is tantamount to an outright negation of the freedom of movement for Community workers laid down by Article 39 EC, which aims to guarantee to workers and persons seeking employment the right to gain access to employment of their choice and to exercise that activity in the territory of another Member State (see, as regards freedom of establishment, Case C-208/00 Überseering [2002] ECR I‑9919, paragraph 93).

Au nombre de ces indices, figure le fait que l’entreprise publique en question ne pouvait pas prendre la décision contestée sans tenir compte des exigences des pouvoirs publics ou des directives émanant du CIPE. D’autres indices permettant de conclure à une telle imputabilité sont également pertinents, tels que l’intégration de ladite entreprise publique dans les structures de l’administration publique, la nature de ses activités et l’exercice de celles-ci sur le marché dans des conditions normales de concurrence avec des opérateurs privés, le statut juridique de l’entreprise, l’intensité de la tutelle exercée par les autorités publiques sur la gestion de l’entreprise, ou tout autre indice traduisant, dans le cas concret, une implication des autorités publiques ou l’improbabilité d’une absence d’implication dans l’adoption d’une mesure, eu égard également à l’ampleur de celle-ci, à son contenu ou aux conditions qu’elle comporte (arrêt du 16 mai 2002, France/Commission, C‑482/99, EU:C:2002:294, points 55 et 56).

53. In that regard, it should be noted, in particular, that, according to the case-law of the Court, a condition of residence is, as a rule, inappropriate as regards migrant workers and frontier workers since, having participated in the employment market of a Member State, they have in principle established a sufficient link of integration with the society of that State, allowing them to benefit from the principle of equal treatment, as compared with, respectively, national workers and resident workers. The link of integration arises, in particular, from the fact that, through the taxes which they pay in the host Member State by virtue of their employment there, migrant and frontier workers also contribute to the financing of the social policies of that State (see, to that effect, inter alia, Case C-542/09 Commission v Netherlands [2012] ECR, paragraphs 63, 65 and 66 and the case-law cited).

17 The rules in question also require that the trademark be affixed by a legal person satisfying certain requirements as to competence and independence.

63. In paragraphs 26 and 27 of its judgment in Simitzi , cited above, the Court held, moreover, that the same reasoning had to apply in the case of a charge levied on goods despatched from one region to other regions of the same State, before concluding that ad valorem charges levied by a Member State on goods despatched from one region solely to other regions of the same State constituted charges having an effect equivalent to customs duties on exports.

74. In the event that court holds that the refusal to accept the document at issue is well founded, the translated version of that document must still be submitted to the addressees, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Regulation No 1393/2007 and, in particular, Article 8(3) thereof.

98 It follows that the undertaking concerned must establish, first, that it did not have access to certain exculpatory evidence and, secondly, that it could have used that evidence for its defence (see, to that effect, judgment of 1 July 2010, Knauf Gips v Commission, C‑407/08 P, EU:C:2010:389, paragraph 24).

119. In the light of those factors, it must be held that the General Court was right to state, in paragraph 31 of the judgment under appeal, that an annulment of one of the paragraphs of Article 1 of the contested decision and of the corresponding paragraph of Article 2 of that decision would have the effect of altering the substance of the decision.

74. Since the provisions of the Treaty and the EEA Agreement on freedom to provide services preclude the contested legislation, there is no need for a separate examination of that legislation in the light of Article 63 TFEU and Article 40 of the EEA Agreement concerning the free movement of capital (see, by analogy, Commission v Belgium , paragraph 79).

19 WITH REGARD TO THE OTHER APPLICANTS , IT MUST BE HELD THAT THE FACT THAT , BEFORE THE ADOPTION OF THE DECISION AT ISSUE , THEY HAD ENTERED INTO CONTRACTS WHICH WERE TO BE CARRIED OUT DURING THE MONTHS TO WHICH THE DECISION APPLIED CONSTITUES A CIRCUMSTANCE WHICH DISTINGUISHES THEM FROM ANY OTHER PERSON CONCERNED BY THE DECISION , IN SO FAR AS THE EXECUTION OF THEIR CONTRACTS WAS WHOLLY OR PARTLY PREVENTED BY THE ADOPTION OF THE DECISION .

6 THE DEFENDANT IN THE MAIN PROCEEDINGS RAISED AN OBJECTION OF INADMISSIBILITY BASED ON PARAGRAPH 3 OF THE OPERATIVE PART OF THE SAID JUDGMENT OF 15 OCTOBER 1980 . IT ARGUED FURTHERMORE , AGAIN REFERRING TO THAT JUDGMENT , THAT THE PLAINTIFF HAD NOT ESTABLISHED THAT THE COMPENSATORY AMOUNTS FIXED BY THE REGULATION IN QUESTION FOR PRODUCTS OBTAINED BY THE PROCESSING OF MAIZE CLEARLY EXCEEDED THOSE FIXED FOR THE QUANTITY OF MAIZE USED IN THEIR MANUFACTURE .

17 IN ITS APPRAISAL THE COMMISSION MUST THEREFORE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL THOSE FACTORS WHICH DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY CHARACTERIZE THE MEASURE IN QUESTION, THAT IS, NOT ONLY AID, PROPERLY SO-CALLED, FOR SELECTED NATIONAL ACTIVITIES, BUT ALSO THE INDIRECT AID WHICH MAY BE CONSTITUTED BOTH BY THE METHOD OF FINANCING AND BY THE CLOSE CONNEXION WHICH MAKES THE AMOUNT OF AID DEPENDENT UPON THE REVENUE FROM THE CHARGE .

17. The terms used to specify the exemptions under Article 13 of the Sixth Directive are to be interpreted strictly, since they constitute exceptions to the general principle that VAT is to be levied on all supplies of services for consideration. However, that requirement of strict interpretation does not mean that the terms used to specify those exemptions should be construed in such a way as to deprive them of their intended effect ( Temco Europe , paragraph 17, and Horizon College , paragraph 16). They must be interpreted in the light of the context in which they are used and the scheme of the Sixth Directive, having particular regard to the underlying purpose of the exemption in question (see, to that effect, Temco Europe , paragraph 18, and Case C-428/02 Fonden Marselisborg Lystbådehavn [2005] ECR I‑1527, paragraph 28).

17. Secondly, the terms used to specify the exemptions provided for by Article 13 of the Sixth Directive are to be interpreted strictly since they constitute exceptions to the general principle that VAT is to be levied on all services supplied for consideration by a taxable person (see, inter alia, Commission v Ireland , paragraph 52; Case C-150/99 Stockholm Lindöpark [2001] ECR I-493, paragraph 25; and Sinclair Collis , paragraph 23). As the Advocate General rightly states at point 37 of his Opinion, the requirement of strict interpretation does not mean, however, that the terms used to specify exemptions should be construed in such a way as to deprive the exemptions of their intended effect.

43. That approach is perfectly consistent with the case-law of the Court of Justice. Thus, at paragraphs 181 to 183 of the judgment in Limburgse Vinyl Maatschappij and Others v Commission , the Court held, in particular, that the administrative procedure may involve an examination in two successive stages, each corresponding to its own internal logic. The first stage, covering the period up to notification of the statement of objections, begins on the date on which the Commission, exercising the powers conferred on it by the Community legislature, takes measures which imply an accusation of an infringement and must enable the Commission to adopt a position on the course which the procedure is to follow. The second stage covers the period from notification of the statement of objections to adoption of the final decision. It must enable the Commission to reach a final decision on the infringement concerned.

78. Thus, given the nature and significance of the public interest constituted by the protection of consumers, who are in a position of weakness vis-à-vis sellers or suppliers, Directive 93/13 requires Member States, as is apparent from Article 7(1) thereof, read in conjunction with the twenty-fourth recital in the preamble thereto, to provide for adequate and effective means ‘to prevent the continued use of unfair terms in contracts concluded with consumers by sellers or suppliers’ ( Banco Español de Crédito EU:C:2012:349, paragraph 68).

24 Against that factual and legislative background, so defined by the national court and the accuracy of which is not a matter for this Court to ascertain (see, to that effect, Case C-352/95 Phytheron International [1997] ECR I-1729, paragraphs 9 to 14), it does not appear that the interpretation of the concept of `existing legislation' within the meaning of Article 70 of the Act of Accession is wholly unrelated to the main action, or that the problem is hypothetical, or that the Court lacks the factual or legal material necessary to give a useful answer.

54. It must be recalled that the principle of equal treatment is a general principle of European Union law, enshrined in Articles 20 and 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

70 With regard to whether the first ground of appeal is well founded, it must be borne in mind that the Court of Justice has held on many occasions that, although the EU rules in force until the end of 1999 do not lay down a time limit for the adoption of a decision on financial corrections by the Commission, since 2000 that has, however, been subject to compliance with a time limit laid down in EU law (see judgments of 4 September 2014, Spain v Commission, C‑192/13 P, EU:C:2014:2156, paragraphs 75 to 82; of 4 September 2014, Spain v Commission, C‑197/13 P, EU:C:2014:2157, paragraphs 75 to 82; of 22 October 2014, Spain v Commission, C‑429/13 P, EU:C:2014:2310, paragraph 29; of 4 December 2014, Spain v Commission, C‑513/13 P, not published, EU:C:2014:2412, paragraph 36; of 24 June 2015, Germany v Commission, C‑549/12 P and C‑54/13 P, EU:C:2015:412, paragraph 81, and of 24 June 2015, Spain v Commission, C‑263/13 P, EU:C:2015:415, paragraph 50).

29. However, it follows from paragraphs 56 to 89 and paragraph 93 of the judgments in Spain v Commission (C‑192/13 P, EU:C:2014:2156) and Spain v Commission (C‑197/13 P, EU:C:2014:2157) that, as from 2000, the Commission is obliged to comply with a time-limit for adopting a decision on financial corrections.

43. According to the Court’s settled case-law, although it is for Member States to take the appropriate measures to ensure their internal and external security, it does not follow that such measures are entirely outside the scope of Community law (see Case C‑273/97 Sirdar [1999] ECR I‑7403, paragraph 15, and Case C‑285/98 Kreil [2000] ECR I‑69, paragraph 15). As the Court has already held, the only articles in which the Treaty expressly provides for derogations applicable in situations which may affect public safety are Articles 30 EC, 39 EC, 46 EC, 58 EC, 64 EC, 296 EC and 297 EC, which deal with exceptional and clearly defined cases. It cannot be inferred that the Treaty contains an inherent general exception excluding all measures taken for reasons of public security from the scope of Community law. The recognition of the existence of such an exception, regardless of the specific requirements laid down by the Treaty, would be liable to impair the binding nature of Community law and its uniform application (see Case C‑186/01 Dory [2003] ECR I‑2479, paragraph 31 and case-law there cited).

19. As is clear from the seventh recital in the preamble, the Directive lists in an exhaustive manner the grounds for refusal or invalidity of registration concerning the trade mark itself.

50. In those circumstances, the contention that the action should be dismissed on the merits, as well as the supporting pleas submitted for the first time in the rejoinder, must be considered to have been put forward out of time and therefore to be inadmissible (see, to that effect, Case C‑471/98 Commission v Belgium [2002] ECR I‑9681, paragraphs 41 to 43).

37. Under Articles 3 and 5 of Directive 93/104, Member States are required to take the measures necessary to ensure that every worker is entitled to a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours per 24‑hour period and, per each seven-day period, to a minimum uninterrupted rest period of 24 hours plus the 11 hours’ daily rest referred to in Article 3. Those provisions impose clear and precise obligations on the Member States as to the result to be achieved by such entitlement to rest.

52. It should be noted at the outset that comparison lists such as those at issue in the main proceedings may constitute comparative advertising. Article 2(1) of Directive 84/450 provides that ‘advertising’ comprises the making of a representation in any form in connection with a trade, business, craft or profession in order to promote the supply of goods or services. Article 2(2a) states that such advertising falls to be treated as comparative where, explicitly or by implication, it identifies a competitor or goods or services offered by a competitor. Those particularly broad definitions mean that the forms which comparative advertising may take are very varied (see, to that effect, Case C-112/99 Toshiba Europe [2001] ECR I-7945, paragraphs 28 and 31; Case C-44/01 Pippig Augenoptik [2003] ECR I-3095, paragraph 35; Case C-381/05 De Landtsheer Emmanuel [2007] ECR I-3115, paragraph 16; and Case C-533/06 O2 Holdings and O2 (UK) [2008] ECR I-4231, paragraph 42).

31 In order for there to be comparative advertising within the meaning of Article 2(2a) of Directive 84/450 as amended, it is therefore sufficient for a representation to be made in any form which refers, even by implication, to a competitor or to the goods or services which he offers. It does not matter that there is a comparison between the goods and services offered by the advertiser and those of a competitor.

42. As a preliminary point, it should be noted that, under Article 38(1)(c) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice and the related case-law, an application must state the subject-matter of the proceedings and a summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based, and that that statement must be sufficiently clear and precise to enable the defendant to prepare a defence and the Court to rule on the application. It follows that the essential points of law and of fact on which an action is based must be indicated coherently and intelligibly in the application itself and that the heads of claim must be set out unambiguously so that the Court does not rule ultra petita or indeed fail to rule on a complaint (Case C-475/07 Commission v Poland [2009] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 43, and the case-law cited).

55. It is settled law that Article 49 EC precludes the application of any national rules which have the effect of making the provision of services between Member States more difficult than the provision of services entirely within a single Member State (see, inter alia, Stamatelaki , paragraph 25 and the case-law cited).

29. In this context, the Court has held that, in the absence of fraud or abuse and subject to adjustments which may be made in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 185 of Directive 2006/112, the right to deduct, once it has arisen, is retained even if the economic activity envisaged does not give rise to taxed transactions (see INZO , paragraphs 20 and 21; Ghent Coal Terminal , paragraphs 19 to 23; Schloßstrasse , paragraph 42; Case C‑98/98 Midland Bank [2000] ECR I‑4177, paragraph 22; and Fini H , paragraph 22).

100 It is not in dispute that the amendments made in 1995 to the 1944 Agreement added an Annex III to that agreement, concerning the principles relating to CRSs, including those applying to CRSs offered for use or used in Swedish territory. By acting in that way, the Kingdom of Sweden infringed the exclusive external competence of the Community arising from Regulation No 2299/89.

34. That analysis is confirmed by the purpose of that directive. As is apparent from recitals 9, 10 and 12 of that directive, its purpose is to stimulate the creation of data storage and processing systems in order to contribute to the development of an information market against a background of exponential growth in the amount of information generated and processed annually in all sectors of activity (see Case C‑46/02 Fixtures Marketing , cited above, paragraph 33; Case C‑203/02 The British Horseracing Board and Others [2004] ECR I‑10415, paragraph 30; Case C‑338/02 Fixtures Marketing , cited above, paragraph 23; and Case C‑444/02 Fixtures Marketing , cited above, paragraph 39) and not to protect the creation of materials capable of being collected in a database.

42. As regards the reference system applied by that legislation, it must be noted that, in interpreting Article 49 EC, the Court has held that ‘must carry’ status should not automatically be awarded to all television channels transmitted by the same private broadcaster, but must be strictly limited to those channels having an overall content which is appropriate for the purpose of attaining such an objective. In addition, the number of channels reserved to private broadcasters having that status must not manifestly exceed what is necessary in order to attain that objective (see United Pan-Europe Communications Belgium and Others , paragraph 47).

18 It must be borne in mind at the outset that the services provided by travel agents and tour operators most frequently consist of multiple services, in particular transport and accommodation, supplied either within or outside the territory of the Member State in which the undertaking has established its business or has a fixed establishment. The application of the normal rules on place of taxation, taxable amount and deduction of input tax would, by reason of the multiplicity of services and the places in which they are provided, entail practical difficulties for those undertakings of such a nature as to obstruct their operations. In order to adapt the applicable rules to the specific nature of such operations, the Community legislature set up a special VAT scheme in Article 26(2), (3) and (4) of the Sixth Directive (see Case C-163/91 Van Ginkel v Inspecteur der Omzetbelasting te Utrecht [1992] ECR I-5723, paragraphs 13 to 15).

46. Bavaria and Bavaria Italia did not undoubtedly have standing to bring an action for annulment against Regulation No 1347/2001 on the basis of Article 230 EC. Consequently, they are entitled, in an action brought in accordance with national law, to plead the invalidity of that regulation even though they did not bring an action for its annulment before the Community judicature within the period laid down in Article 230 EC. Alleged infringement of general principles of Community law by Regulation No 2081/92 as regards its scope and legal basis

30. According to the settled case-law of the Court, the right to maternity leave granted to pregnant workers must be regarded as a particularly important mechanism of protection under employment law. The EU legislature thus considered that the fundamental changes to the living conditions of the persons concerned during the period of at least 14 weeks preceding and after childbirth constituted a legitimate ground on which they could suspend their employment, without the public authorities or employers being allowed in any way to call the legitimacy of that ground into question (judgments in Kiiski , C‑116/06, EU:C:2007:536, paragraph 49; in Betriu Montull , C‑5/12, EU:C:2013:571, paragraph 48; and in D. , C‑167/12, EU:C:2014:169, point 32).

15 Member States are required to communicate to the Commission any draft technical regulation in accordance with Article 8 of the directive. Such an obligation cannot be subject to the unilateral assessment by the Member State which drafted the regulation of the effects which it may have on trade between Member States.

35. In addition, the Court has also held that Article 6(b) of Directive 2003/88 has direct effect in the sense that it confers on individuals rights upon which they are entitled to rely directly before the national courts ( Pfeiffer and Others , paragraphs 103 to 106, and Fuß , paragraphs 56 to 59).

291 When one or more Member States are faced with an emergency situation within the meaning of Article 78(3) TFEU, the burdens entailed by the provisional measures adopted under that provision for the benefit of that or those Member States must, as a rule, be divided between all the other Member States, in accordance with the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility between the Member States, since, in accordance with Article 80 TFEU, that principle governs EU asylum policy.

18. In the absence of a Treaty definition of ‘movement of capital’ within the meaning of Article 56(1) EC, the Court has previously recognised the nomenclature set out in Annex I to Council Directive 88/361/EEC of 24 June 1988 for the implementation of Article 67 of the Treaty [article repealed by the Treaty of Amsterdam] (OJ 1988 L 178, p. 5) as having indicative value. Movements of capital within the meaning of Article 56(1) EC therefore include direct investments, that is to say, as that nomenclature and the related explanatory notes show, investments of any kind undertaken by natural or legal persons and which serve to establish or maintain lasting and direct links between the persons providing the capital and the undertakings to which that capital is made available in order to carry out an economic activity (see, to that effect, Case C‑446/04 Test Claimants in the FII Group Litigation [2006] ECR I‑11753, paragraphs 179 to 181, and Case C‑157/05 Holböck [2007] ECR I‑0000, paragraphs 33 and 34). As regards shareholdings in new or existing undertakings, as those explanatory notes confirm, the objective of establishing or maintaining lasting economic links presupposes that the shares held by the shareholder enable him, either pursuant to the provisions of the national laws relating to companies limited by shares or in some other way, to participate effectively in the management of that company or in its control (see Test Claimants in the FII Group Litigation , paragraph 182, and Holböck , paragraph 35; see also C‑367/98 Commission v Portugal [2002] ECR I‑4731, paragraph 38; Case C‑483/99 Commission v France [2002] ECR I‑4781, paragraph 37; Case C‑503/99 Commission v Belgium [2002] ECR I‑4809, paragraph 38; Case C‑463/00 Commission v Spain [2003] ECR I‑4581, paragraph 53; Case C‑98/01 Commission v United Kingdom [2003] ECR I‑4641, paragraph 40; Case C‑174/04 Commission v Italy [2005] ECR I‑4933, paragraph 28; and Commission v Netherlands , paragraph 19).

28 THAT PROVISION WAS LAID DOWN WITH THE AIM OF SIMPLIFYING ADMINISTRATION IN ORDER TO EXEMPT MIGRANT WORKERS , WHO HAVE RIGHTS TO ASSERT IN DIFFERENT MEMBER STATES , FROM THE REQUIREMENT TO LODGE WITH THE INSTITUTIONS IN EACH OF THOSE STATES AN APPLICATION FOR THE GRANT OF THE BENEFITS WHICH THEY MAY CLAIM .

42 Moreover, the appellant disputes the statement of reasons for that decision in so far as the proposed ECI at issue does not, he claims, manifestly fall outside the Commission’s powers under the provisions referred to in that decision. However, it should be noted that that argument does not relate to the obligation to state reasons as an essential procedural requirement, but to the separate question of the merits of those reasons, which is a question of the substantive legality of the contested decision (judgment of 29 September 2011, Elf Aquitaine v Commission, C‑521/09 P, EU:C:2011:620, paragraph 146 and the case-law cited). It must therefore be examined in the context of the reply to the second to fourth grounds of appeal.

10 ANY DIFFERENCES WHICH MAY EXIST TO THE BENEFIT OF MIGRANT WORKERS DO NOT RESULT FROM THE INTERPRETATION OF COMMUNITY LAW BUT RATHER FROM THE LACK OF ANY COMMON SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM OR OF ANY HARMONIZATION OF THE EXISTING NATIONAL SCHEMES , WHICH CANNOT BE MITIGATED BY THE MERE CO-ORDINATION AT PRESENT PRACTISED .

24 In that regard, it must be recalled that, according to settled case-law, it is solely for the national court before which the dispute has been brought, and which must assume responsibility for the subsequent judicial decision, to determine, in the light of the particular circumstances of the case, both the need for a preliminary ruling in order to enable it to deliver judgment and the relevance of the questions which it submits to the Court (judgment of 27 February 2014, Cartier parfums-lunettes and Axa Corporate Solutions assurances, C‑1/13, EU:C:2014:109, paragraph 25 and the case-law cited). Accordingly, it is without prejudging the issue of the international jurisdiction of the referring court that the Court will answer the question referred.

35 Consequently, it must be held that, by precluding by regulation or administrative practice on the grounds of their nationality employed or self-employed workers from other Member States and the members of their families from being attributed large-family status for the purpose of the award of special benefits for such families and from being awarded family allowances, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 48 and 52 of the EC Treaty, Article 7 of Regulation No 1612/68, Article 7 of Regulation No 1251/70, Article 7 of Directive 75/34 and Article 3 of Regulation No 1408/71.

18 It must also be observed that, for the prohibition of all discrimination between nationals of Member States provided for in Article 37(1) to be applicable, it is not necessarily a requirement that the exclusive rights to import a given product relate to all imports: it is sufficient if those rights relate to a proportion such that they enable the monopoly to have an appreciable influence on imports (see, to that effect, Commission v Greece, cited above, paragraph 41). It is not disputed that the exclusive import rights held by SEP for electricity intended for public distribution fall into that category.

189. As the General Court observed at paragraph 425 of the judgment under appeal, the Court has consistently held that the Commission’s practice in previous decisions does not itself serve as a legal framework for the fines imposed in competition matters and that decisions in other cases can give only an indication for the purpose of determining whether there is discrimination (Case C‑549/10 P Tomra Systems and Others v Commission EU:C:2012:221, paragraph 104 and the case‑law cited).

75. As regards the first part of the fourth ground of appeal, it is settled case-law that, in order to assess whether a mark has acquired distinctive character following the use which has been made of it, the following may also be taken into account: the market share held by the mark; how intensive, geographically widespread and long-standing use of the mark has been; the amount invested by the undertaking in promoting the mark; the proportion of the relevant class of persons who, because of the mark, identify goods as originating from a particular undertaking; and statements from chambers of commerce and industry or other trade and professional associations (see, to that effect, in relation to Article 3(3) of First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (OJ 1989 L 40, p. 1), a provision which is identical, in substance, to Article 7(3) of Regulation No 40/94, and Joined Cases C-108/97 and C-109/97 Windsurfing Chiemsee [1999] ECR I-2779, paragraph 51, Case C-299/99 Philips [2002] ECR I-5475, paragraph 60, and Case C-353/03 Nestlé [2005] ECR I-6135, paragraph 31).

72. S’agissant du contrôle de la légalité d’une décision adoptant des mesures restrictives, la Cour a jugé que, eu égard à leur nature préventive, si le juge de l’Union considère que, à tout le moins, l’un des motifs mentionnés est suffisamment précis et concret, qu’il est étayé et qu’il constitue en soi une base suffisante pour soutenir cette décision, la circonstance que d’autres de ces motifs ne le seraient pas ne saurait justifier l’annulation de ladite décision (voir arrêt Kadi II, point 130).

51 It must, however, also be borne in mind that, according to settled case-law, a mere similarity in the wording of a provision of one of the Treaties establishing the Communities and of an international agreement between the Community and a non-member country is not sufficient to give to the wording of that agreement the same meaning as it has in the Treaties (see Case 270/80 Polydor and RSO Records [1982] ECR 329, paragraphs 14 to 21; Case 104/81 Kupferberg [1982] ECR 3641, paragraphs 29 to 31; Case C-312/91 Metalsa [1993] ECR I-3751, paragraphs 11 to 20).

20 UNDER ARTICLE 93 ( 2 ) IF THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT AID GRANTED BY A STATE IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE COMMON MARKET, IT SHALL DECIDE THAT THE STATE CONCERNED " SHALL ABOLISH OR ALTER " IT . BY CONTRAST WITH ARTICLE 93 ( 3 ) WHICH INVOLVES THE POWER OF THE COMMISSION TO TAKE IMMEDIATE INTERIM MEASURES, WHERE NECESSARY, DECISIONS TAKEN UNDER ARTICLE 93 ( 2 ) CAN ONLY TAKE FULL EFFECT ON CONDITION THAT THE COMMISSION INDICATES TO THE MEMBER STATE CONCERNED THE ASPECTS OF THE AID WHICH ARE REGARDED AS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE TREATY AND THEREFORE SUBJECT TO ABOLITION OR ALTERATION .

20. An independent interpretation of those exemptions is all the more essential because, as the Court held in Case C-346/97 Braathens [1999] ECR I‑3419, paragraph 31, Article 8(1) of Directive 92/81 imposes on the Member States the obligation not to levy the harmonised excise duty on mineral oils supplied for use as fuel for a number of activities set out in that provision.

57 Coordinating the adoption of decisions in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and of the measures taken on the basis of the FEU Treaty is all the more necessary because restrictive measures against natural or legal persons, entities or bodies must be adopted within a short period, either to comply with a resolution of the Security Council or to ensure as quickly as possible the desired effect by the new autonomous listings decided in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. In that regard, it should be noted that the decision taken in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the contested implementing regulations designating NIOC were adopted on the same day, in accordance with the Council’s practice.

38. However, it is established case-law that, in establishing those conditions, Member States are required to comply with European Union law, in particular the objective pursued by Regulation No 1408/71 and the principles on which that regulation is based ( Tomaszewska , paragraph 27), as well as Articles 45 TFEU and 48 TFEU enshrining the principle of freedom of movement for workers (see, to that effect, Iurlaro , paragraph 28, and Case C‑347/00 Barreira Pérez [2002] ECR I‑8191, paragraph 23).

54. With a view to giving a helpful answer to the questions submitted, it should be made clear at the outset that Directive 1999/70 and the Framework Agreement can apply also to fixed-term employment contracts and relationships concluded with the public authorities and other public-sector bodies.

22. For the purpose of answering the questions as reformulated, it should be noted first of all that Article 3 of the Regulation makes provision for two types of insolvency proceedings. Insolvency proceedings opened, in accordance with Article 3(1), by the competent court of the Member State within the territory of which the centre of a debtor’s main interests is situated, described as the ‘main proceedings’, produce universal effects in that the proceedings apply to the debtor’s assets situated in all the Member States in which the Regulation applies. Although, subsequently, proceedings under Article 3(2) may be opened by the competent court of the Member State where the debtor has an establishment, those proceedings, described as ‘secondary proceedings’, produce effects which are restricted to the assets of the debtor situated in the territory of the latter State (see Case C-341/04 Eurofood IFSC [2006] ECR I-3813, paragraph 28).

48. Accordingly, it is not contrary to European Union law to require an operator to act in good faith and to take every step which could reasonably be asked of it to satisfy itself that the transaction which it is carrying out does not result in its participation in tax fraud ( Teleos and Others , paragraph 65, and Mahagében and Dávid , paragraph 54).

47. The fact that a national measure may be consistent with a provision of secondary legislation, in this case Article 22 of Regulation No 1408/71, does not have the effect of removing that measure from the scope of the provisions of the Treaty (Case C-158/96 Kohll [1998] ECR I-1931, paragraph 25).

25 It must be stated that the fact that a national measure may be consistent with a provision of secondary legislation, in this case Article 22 of Regulation No 1408/71, does not have the effect of removing that measure from the scope of the provisions of the Treaty.

33 In accordance with the Court’s settled case-law, the exemptions laid down in Article 135(1) of the VAT Directive constitute autonomous concepts of EU law whose purpose is to avoid divergences in the application of the VAT system as between one Member State and another (see, inter alia, judgments of 10 March 2011, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, C‑540/09, EU:C:2011:137, paragraph 19 and the case-law cited, and of 22 October 2015, Hedqvist, C‑264/14, EU:C:2015:718, paragraph 33 and the case-law cited).

20 It follows that all the relevant elements of fact must, in the light of the criteria laid down in the abovementioned provisions, be taken into consideration in determining normal residence as the permanent centre of interests of the person concerned.

29 However, even national legislation which applies without distinction to all services, irrespective of the place of establishment of the provider, is liable to constitute a restriction on the freedom to provide services in so far as it reserves an advantage solely to users of services which comply with certain conditions which are de facto specific to the national market and thus deny that advantage to users of other services which are essentially similar but do not comply with the specific conditions provided for in that legislation. Such legislation affects the situation of users of services as such and is thus liable to discourage them from using the services of certain providers, since the services offered by them do not comply with the conditions laid down in that legislation, thus directly affecting access to the market (see, to that effect, judgments of 10 May 1995, Alpine Investments, C‑384/93, EU:C:1995:126, paragraphs 26 to 28 and 35 to 38, and of 10 November 2011, Commission v Portugal, C‑212/09, EU:C:2011:717, paragraph 65 and the case-law cited).

37. As the Advocate General observed in points 36 and 37 of her Opinion, application of the adjustment mechanism depends on the existence of a right to deduct based on Article 17 of the Sixth Directive.

44. With regard to Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP (OJ 1999 L 175, p. 43) and, in particular, clause 8(3) of that Framework Agreement, under which implementation of the agreement cannot provide the Member States with valid grounds for reducing the general level of protection for workers previously guaranteed in the domestic legal order in the sphere covered by that agreement, the Court has held that reduction of the protection which workers are guaranteed in the sphere of fixed-term employment contracts is not prohibited as such by the Framework Agreement but, in order for that reduction to be caught by the prohibition laid down by clause 8(3) of the agreement, it must, first, be connected to the ‘implementation’ of the Framework Agreement and, second, relate to the ‘general level of protection’ afforded to fixed-term workers (Joined Cases C‑378/07 to C‑380/07 Angelidaki and Others [2009] ECR I‑3071, paragraph 126, and the case-law cited).

402. Nor can a breach of the principle non bis in idem be established, if it was based on the fact that the conduct in question has already been taken into account as an aggravating circumstance.

31 That conclusion cannot be invalidated by the consideration that under Article 6(3) of Decision No 1/80 the procedures for applying paragraph (1) are to be established under national rules. As the Court has already observed in its judgment in Sevince (paragraph 22), Article 6(3) of Decision No 1/80 merely clarifies the obligation incumbent on the Member States to take such administrative measures as may be necessary for the implementation of that provision, without empowering them to make conditional or restrict the application of the precise and unconditional right which the provision grants to Turkish workers.

40. In the present case, it is evident that the consideration received by the operator in return for the provision of services designated by the Commissioner, namely the processing of transferred waste with energy recovery, consists essentially in the payment of the amount of the royalty by the Commissioner.

47 The requirement that reasons be given must be assessed according to the circumstances of the case. It is not necessary for the reasoning to go into all of the relevant facts and points of law, since the question whether the statement of reasons for a measure meets the requirements of Article 296 TFEU must be assessed with regard not only to its wording but also to its context and to all the legal rules governing the matter in question (judgment of 29 September 2011, Elf Aquitaine v Commission, C‑521/09 P, EU:C:2011:620, paragraph 150 and the case-law cited).

48. That obligation to cooperate means that the undertaking may not evade requests for production of documents on the ground that by complying with them it would be required to give evidence against itself.

43. Such manifest infringement is to be assessed, inter alia, in the light of a number of criteria, such as the degree of clarity and precision of the rule infringed, whether the infringement was intentional, whether the error of law was excusable or inexcusable, and the non-compliance by the court in question with its obligation to make a reference for a preliminary ruling under the third paragraph of Article 234 EC; it is in any event presumed where the decision involved is made in manifest disregard of the case-law of the Court on the subject ( Köbler , paragraphs 53 to 56). is

16 Quant à la troisième question, qui porte sur le point de savoir si la mise en oeuvre de la directive peut résulter de la possibilité qu' ont les régions italiennes de déroger aux périodes de chasse fixées par la réglementation nationale et, sous certaines conditions, d' interdire ou de limiter la chasse, il y a lieu de souligner qu' une réglementation nationale qui déclare la chasse de certaines espèces ouverte en principe, sans préjudice de dispositions contraires dictées par les autorités régionales, ne répond pas aux exigences de protection posées par la directive .

44. With regard to a measure that simultaneously pursues a number of objectives, or that has several components, which are inseparably linked without one’s being incidental to the other, the Court has held that, where various provisions of the Treaty are therefore applicable, such a measure will have to be founded, exceptionally, on the various corresponding legal bases (see, in particular, Parliament v Council , paragraph 36 and case-law cited).

66. Regarding non-hazardous urban waste, which does not, as a rule, require specialised installations like those required for the treatment of hazardous waste, Member States must therefore endeavour to have a network which makes it possible to meet the need, in terms of waste disposal installations, as close as possible to the places where the waste is produced, although that does not alter the fact that it is also possible to organise such a network within the framework of inter-regional or even cross-border cooperation, where that is consistent with the principle of proximity.

46. It is thus clear from case-law that, whatever the mechanism adopted for preventing or mitigating the imposition of a series of charges to tax or economic double taxation, the freedoms of movement guaranteed by the Treaty preclude a Member State from treating foreign-sourced dividends less favourably than nationally-sourced dividends, unless such a difference in treatment concerns situations which are not objectively comparable or is justified by overriding reasons in the general interest (see, to that effect, Case C‑315/02 Lenz [2004] ECR I‑7063, paragraphs 20 to 49, and Case C‑319/02 Manninen [2004] ECR I‑7477, paragraphs 20 to 55). Likewise, as regards the decisions which Directive 90/435 leaves in the hands of the Member States, the Court has pointed out that these may be exercised only in compliance with the fundamental provisions of the Treaty, in particular those relating to freedom of establishment ( Keller Holding , paragraph 45).

47. As paragraph 40 of this judgment makes clear, distinctive character means, for all trade marks, that the mark must be capable of identifying the product as originating from a particular undertaking, and thus distinguishing it from those of other undertakings.

44. Next, it is settled case-law that, within the framework of the Commission’s implementing power, the limits of which must be determined by reference amongst other things to the essential general aims of the legislative act in question, the Commission is authorised to adopt all the measures which are necessary or appropriate for the implementation of that act, provided that they are not contrary to it (judgments in Netherlands v Commission , C‑478/93, EU:C:1995:324, paragraphs 30 and 31; Portugal v Commission , C‑159/96, EU:C:1998:550, paragraphs 40 and 41; Parliament v Commission , C‑403/05, EU:C:2007:624, paragraph 51; and Parliament and Denmark v Commission , C‑14/06 and C‑295/06, EU:C:2008:176, paragraph 52).

48. In order to answer that question, it should be borne in mind that the system put in place by Regulation No 1408/71 is merely a system of coordination, concerning, inter alia, the determination of the legislation applicable to employed and self-employed persons who make use, in various circumstances, of their right to freedom of movement and that it is inherent in such a system that the conditions to which entitlement to a retirement pension is subject differ depending on the Member State (see, to that effect, judgment in Tomaszewska , C‑440/09, EU:C:2011:114, paragraphs 25 and 26).

30. The betting transaction referred to in Article 13(B)(f) is characterised by the offer to customers placing bets of a chance of winning in consideration for accepting the risk of having to pay for winnings ( United Utilities , paragraph 26).

29. It is sufficient, for there to be ‘removal from customs supervision’, for the goods in question to have been objectively removed from possible controls, whether or not such controls have actually been carried out by the competent authority (judgment in SEK Zollagentur , C‑75/13, EU:C:2014:1759, paragraph 32).

38. Member States enjoy a certain discretion in that regard since they have the choice of relying on one or more of the measures listed in Clause 5(1)(a) to (c) of the Framework Agreement, or on existing equivalent legal measures, while taking account of the needs of specific sectors and/or categories of workers (judgment in Mascolo and Others , paragraph 75 and the case-law cited).

31. Il convient de relever que les cas dans lesquels il est permis de limiter l’obligation de paiement des institutions de garantie, tels que prévus par l’article 4 de la directive 80/987, telle que modifiée, doivent faire l’objet d’une interprétation stricte (voir, en ce sens, arrêt van Ardennen, précité, point 34).

35. Once that period has expired, the debt is time-barred and, consequently, extinguished within the meaning of Article 233 of the Customs Code (see judgment in Direct Parcel Distribution Belgium , C‑264/08, EU:C:2010:43, paragraph 43).

33. In this respect, there is no need to analyse all the conditions for the application of the above case-law and it is sufficient to note that, in the present case, the rental income generated by hiring out the tangible assets for which Jubra claims the investment premium is taxable in Austria. Therefore, it cannot be claimed that, without the legislation at issue in the main proceedings, the right of the Republic of Austria to exercise its taxing powers in relation to activities carried on in its territory would be jeopardised (see, also, Marks & Spencer , paragraph 46, and Rewe Zentralfinanz , paragraph 42).

34 Accordingly, the Court has held, in cases concerning jurisdiction in the field of patents, that, where the dispute concerns neither the validity of a patent nor the existence of its deposit or registration, the dispute is not covered by the concept of proceedings ‘concerned with the registration or validity of patents’ and therefore falls outside the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Member State in which the right was registered (judgments of 15 November 1983, Duijnstee, 288/82, EU:C:1983:326, paragraphs 22 to 25, and of 13 July 2006, GAT, C‑4/03, EU:C:2006:457, paragraphs 15 and 16).

64. However, the competent national authorities cannot draw such conclusions without first carrying out an overall assessment of the specific burden which granting that benefit would place on the national social assistance system as a whole, by reference to the personal circumstances characterising the individual situation of the person concerned.